VA Loans

Apache is functioning normally

My pal Chris Guillebeau is out of town on another one of his around-the-world jaunts. While he’s living the high life in Equatorial Guinea, his wife Jolie (the artist behind my Kermit painting) is left to entertain herself here in Portland. What does she choose to do? While away her hours with me and Kris.

On a whim, yesterday the three of us made a trip to the local restaurant supply store. This wasn’t my idea. Kris and Jolie decided it’d be a fun way to spend part of an afternoon; I tagged along for the husband points. Turns out, however, that the restaurant supply store is a great place to save money.

I’m not sure how Kris heard about the place, but Rose’s Equipment and Supply is located in Portland’s central-Eastside industrial district (not far from OMSI). It really is an equipment supplier — they don’t carry foodstuff — for local restaurants, but their warehouse is open to the public. Basically, it’s like a Costco for kitchen gadgets.

The restaurant supply store contains aisles of pots and pans, knives and ladles, soup kettles and popcorn poppers. It has bulk toothpicks and cases of coffee mugs, 55-cup rice cookers and 15-cup rice cookers, and…well, just about anything you might use in a restaurant.

A lot of the items are perfect for the home kitchen, too. In fact, although I don’t have the stats to verify this, I suspect you can buy commercial-grade equipment at the restaurant supply store for the same price you could pick up the consumer stuff at your local kitchen cabana. Most (but not all) of the stuff at the restaurant supply store is fairly inexpensive.

How can I be sure? Well, since we were killing an afternoon, we decided to swing by the nearby Sur la Table to see what some of these things usually go for. Here are our very unscientific observations:

  • The 2-inch stainless ice-cream scoop at Rose’s was $9 and $18 at Sur la Table.
  • The rubber handled citrus zester was $3 at Rose’s and $9 at Sur la Table.
  • The 10-3/4 inch Lodge cast-iron skillet was $12 at Rose’s and $20 at Sur la Table.
  • The 2-ounce stainless ladle was $2.25 at Rose’s and (no joke) $29 at Sur la Table. (Though the one at Sur la Table had spouts.)
  • The “deluxe dual grater” was $12 at Rose’s and $20 at Sur la Table.
  • The 8-inch chef’s knife was $30 at Rose’s and $50 (on sale) at Sur la Table.

Not everything was cheaper at the restaurant supply store, however. For example, the stainless steel avocado slicer at Rose’s cost $12; the cute plastic Flexicado at Sur la Table was $6.

The restaurant supply store also had a broader selection of useful items. Sur la Table had plenty of gadgets, to be sure. But some — such as the strawberry stem remover — are essentially useless. The gadgets at the restaurant supply store are the sorts of things that real-life food professionals might find handy. (I’m not ashamed to admit that I picked up an $8 bus tray. I used to love my tray when I worked as a busboy, and I’ve often wished we had one for dinner parties and summer barbeques. Now we do.)

One final note: If you want something stylish and trendy, you won’t find it at the restaurant supply store. These tools are for real-world work. They’re utilitarian and functional. They’re sturdy. (They’re like the equipment you’d find in a restaurant!) But if you’re willing to forego “cute”, then the restaurant supply store is a great place to look for bargains. It’s worth doing the research to discover the one in your town.

Source: getrichslowly.org

Apache is functioning normally

When I was in my early twenties, I was a credit card mess. I’d go shopping with my credit card in hand and not worry about how much I spent until the bill came. At that point, though, I’d start worrying a great deal — sometimes, I’d worry about it all night!

It didn’t take long for me to realize that I had to change my evil spending ways or cut up my card. So, I spent a lot of time learning everything I could about credit cards and personal finance. I literally read everything I could get my hands on. The more I learned, the easier it became to have a relationship with my credit card that it didn’t involve sleepless nights.

Fast forward a couple of decades. Now, I spend the better part of every day either writing or talking about credit cards or personal finance. But I freely acknowledge that credit cards aren’t for everyone. Cash is king for many people. But for those who do want a mutually beneficial relationship with their credit cards, here are the five habits common among cardholders who use their cards effectively.

Habit #1: They Have an Organized Credit Life.

You need to check your credit report and FICO score regularly. On AnnualCreditReport.com, you can get a free credit report from each bureau (Equifax, TransUnion, and Experian) once a year. Instead of ordering them all at once, request a report from a different credit bureau every four months. This way, you can monitor your report throughout the year. When you read the report, look for errors and signs of identity theft. (Here’s Adam Baker’s step-by-step guide to how to get your free credit report from AnnualCreditReport.com.)

Know what your credit card balances are on each of your cards. Also keep tabs on the interest rates for your cards. Check your accounts online several times a week so you stay on top of your balances. I know it’s a high-tech world, but it’s a good idea to keep files that have your credit report, score, monthly credit card bills, and disclosure statements. Nothing fancy required. Manila folders work just fine.

Habit #2: They Pay Their Bills in Full Every Month

One reason you want to have an organized credit life is so you always know where you stand with credit card balances. The goal is to pay off the balance every month. There’s really no middle ground here. You have to have the self-discipline to stop spending when you reach your budgeted limit. If your past history suggests that you will keep spending, don’t use credit cards.

And give yourself a pat on the back for honesty. The people who are the most successful at managing their money are the ones who know their strengths and weaknesses and make decisions accordingly.

Habit #3: They Use Rewards Cards to Their Advantage

I admit I love a good rewards card.I guess it’s the personal finance geek inside me who loves the idea of getting paid to use my credit card. The key here is to use the rewards card to your advantage and that means paying off your bill in full every month (see Habit #2). Rewards cards tend to have higher interest rates. If you carry a balance, you not only negate the benefit, you lose money.

Habit #4: They Track Their Credit Card Expenses

When I had sleepless nights over credit card bills it was because I wasn’t tracking my expenses. So when my statement arrived, I almost passed out from anxiety. If you’re an effective credit card user — make that a highly effective user — you’re never surprised by your bill. And since you’re paying the bill off every month, it’s just another piece of mail.

There are a lot of fun money management tools out there right now. You just have to do some research and find one that works for you. I use Mint and it’s worked well for me. I’m a visual person, and I love all the colorful charts and graphs.

Habit #5: They Read Their Credit Card Bills and Disclosure Statements

Open your statement as soon as it arrives. Look at every transaction to make sure the charges are legitimate. If you see any discrepancies, get on the phone immediately. It’s very important right now to read all the disclosure statements you receive. With the credit card legislation still being phased in, credit card issuers are sometimes getting creative when it comes to fees.

Source: getrichslowly.org

Apache is functioning normally

My philosophy on credit cards has changed completely in the last five years. I’ve gone from anti-credit-card to pro-credit-card — but only for those who can use them responsibly. I think they’re a great convenience, and I like getting cash back when I use mine.

But not everyone thinks this cash-back feature is a good thing. In fact, my inbox is a-flutter with folks who want me to comment on the recent credit-card study from the Consumer Payments Research Center. This study (which can be downloaded as a 810kb PDF from the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston) found that credit cards transfer wealth from the poor to the rich. How? Through fees and rewards programs.

From the abstract:

Merchant fees and reward programs generate an implicit monetary transfer to credit card users from non-card (or “cash”) users because merchants generally do not set differential prices for card users to recoup the costs of fees and rewards. On average, each cash-using household pays $151 to card-using households and each card-using household receives $1,482 from cash users every year.

Because credit card spending and rewards are positively correlated with household income, the payment instrument transfer also induces a regressive transfer from low-income to high-income households in general. On average, and after accounting for rewards paid to households by banks, the lowest-income household ($20,000 or less annually) pays $23 and the highest-income household ($150,000 or more annually) receives $756 every year.

To summarize: Wealthy people are more likely to use credit cards than poor people (and more likely to receive rewards for doing so). But because prices are generally the same whether you pay with cash or credit — in most cases, credit-card companies prohibit stores from adding a fee for credit-card use — poor people usually pay more for things than wealthy people do. This is, effectively, a transfer of wealth from the poor to the rich. This isn’t just hypothetical or abstract; the paper lays out the details for just how this occurs.

Note: There are many other ways in which the poor pay more than the rich. Wealthy people are more likely to negotiate. (No evidence — my own belief.) Wealthy people usually have the ability to wait before buying something. Wealthy people tend do have more buying options (and thus find lower prices). And so on.

There’s a lot of interesting information in this study, and if you have time, you ought to read it. It’s thought-provoking. And it has created quite a stir in the media.

  • Even before this study was released, Ron Lieber at The New York Times was contemplating the damage of rewards cards. Lieber has been “fanatical” about using his mileage card for fifteen years, but recognizes that he may be part of the problem. Since the release of the study, the NYT Bucks blog has posted a follow-up about how much credit card rewards cost the poor.
  • The Wall Street Journal blog post on the study offers no opinions, but the commenters make some interesting points. (Well, those that aren’t being internet idiots, that is.) I particularly like the comment from Jay on July 27th at 10:48am (which describes the reasons low-income earners shouldn’t use credit cards).
  • GRS reader Alan forwarded this article from the Portland Oregonian, in which Brent Hunsberger does a good of explaining the complicated web of fees and payments in the current system. (And the comments on his article are surprisingly rational; OregonLive.com is not known for its intelligent discussions.)

The article from the Oregonian also includes this video, in which Hunsberger diagrams the web of credit-card fees and payments:

Out of curiosity, I pinged my pals at Index Credit Cards. Their new spokeswoman, Dr. Mary Ann Campbell, had this to say:

The problem, as I see it, is that there aren’t enough options to incentivize the poor, such as discounts for cash or no-fee cards with low limits and strict rules to help them build their credit. Increased options and incentives for the poor without taking away the reward for good behavior earned by people who are managing their money well would be a smart and healthy way to address this dilemma.

It’s all about incentives and options. The incentive of credit card companies to get people who have the money to spend more is working through reward cards. As the economy is driven through more spending, so are more jobs created, and tax revenues increased, which I see as actually helping the poor.

So, what do you think of this research? I understand the research and accept that it’s true, yet it’s unlikely to change the way I use credit cards. Yes, I could take a moral stand and refuse to use credit for most of my purchases. But doing so would cost me a lot of money — roughly the same as my dining-out budget for a few months. (And I like my clams in butter sauce!)

The main problem is that the system already exists, and it’s deeply entrenched. It’s not going away. By electing to opt out, smart consumers — wealthy or not — cost themselves money. If using a rewards credit card without carrying a balance is a way for me to save a few hundred dollars a year, that qualifies as one of those Big Wins I’m always preaching about. It seems foolish to give this up.

But maybe I’m just being selfish.

What about you? Does this study make you think twice about your own use of credit cards?

Source: getrichslowly.org

Apache is functioning normally

This is the third part in a short series about insurance basics. In the first part, I explained how insurance works. In the second, I shared some general tips about how to save on insurance of all types. Today’s article offers info about auto insurance.

You’ve had car insurance since you were old enough to drive, but how much do you really know about it? At its heart, your policy probably contains a few basic types of coverage.

Liability Insurance

In most states, you at least need to have liability insurance, which covers the cost of any damage you do to other people or things with your car. (But note that liability insurance doesn’t cover injuries to you or other people on your policy; for that, you need PIP insurance, which I’ll cover in a moment.)

Insurance companies like to quote liability coverage as a series of three numbers, like 50/200/25. If that’s Greek to you, here’s a break-down:

  • The first number is how much, in thousands of dollars, the policy will pay for each person (besides you) injured in an accident ($50,000 in this example).
  • The second number is the total that the policy covers for each accident ($200,000 here).
  • And the last number tells how much property damage will be reimbursed ($25,000 in this case).

But there’s more to auto insurance than just liability coverage.

Tip: Many experts recommend that you carry automobile liability insurance coverage equal to your net worth — the total value of everything you own. This can be expensive to do on individual policies. Instead, it may be more cost effective to buy an umbrella policy, which gives you extra liability coverage above what your home and auto policies provide. I don’t know much about umbrella policies, but I’m actually hoping to learn more about them. If you’d like, I can share what I learn.

Collision and Comprehensive Insurance

As you can probably guess, collision insurance covers damage to your car when it hits (or gets hit by) another vehicle or object. But because collisions aren’t the only way for your car to get banged up, comprehensive insurance covers damage from events other than collisions: floods, fire, theft, alien invasion, and so on.

Collision and comprehensive coverage make more sense for newer vehicles, and are generally required if you’re still making payments on your car. They’re less necessary — and may actually be a waste of money! — on older cars. So, if you’re still driving around that 1970 AMC Gremlin, ditch the collision and comprehensive.

Personal Injury Protection (PIP) Insurance

PIP insurance is sometimes called “no-fault” insurance and is required in certain states. It covers medical costs (and possibly lost wages) if you’re injured in an accident. Your policy may also cover passengers and pedestrians.

Uninsured Motorist Insurance

No surprise here: Uninsured motorist insurance covers you and your passengers if you’re in an accident caused by a driver who doesn’t have insurance. It also covers hit-and-run accidents.

How to Save on Car Insurance

Every year, you spend hundreds — maybe even thousands — on car insurance, and chances are, you’re paying too much. The August 2008 issue of Consumer Reports estimated that the average family could save $65 per month by shopping around for car insurance.

Last week, I gave some general tips to save on insurance of all types. Here are some other ways to lower your costs on car insurance:

  • Ditch towing coverage. Towing — or “emergency roadside service”, as it’s sometimes called — is an easy cost to self-insure. (You likely pay $10 to $30 a year for towing insurance, and one tow costs about $100, which you can save quickly by not paying for towing insurance.) Sometimes your car will break down, but if it’s well maintained, that won’t happen often. Also note that if you’re in an accident, towing is usually covered under collision insurance — but check your policy to be sure.
  • Plan ahead. Compare auto insurance quotes before you buy your next car. Insurance costs are based on how likely a car is to be stolen, damaged, or to inflict damage, and how badly occupants tend to be hurt in accidents. Repair and replacement costs are also factors. Many insurance companies list cars with lower insurance costs on their websites.
  • Watch your credit. Most insurance companies now look at parts of your credit report to determine your premiums. This sucks, I know, but parts of your credit history have been found to correlate to what the company has to pay out. They can’t adjust your rates on your current car if you pay on time and in full, but anytime you add a new vehicle, its premiums can be affected by your credit.
  • Don’t pay monthly. Insurance companies charge a few bucks each month for monthly billing. To avoid that fee, pay every six months or even once a year, if possible. If you have to pay monthly, use your insurance company’s autopay program, which costs less because they don’t have to send you a paper bill.

Though it’ll always cost more to insure a new Corvette than a used Corolla, one of the best ways to keep costs low is to maintain a clean driving record. Insurance companies charge you based on how likely you are to file a claim — and accidents are the biggest source of claims.

Some insurance companies offer discounts for taking safe-driving courses. Others give low-mileage discounts — the less you’re on the road, the less likely you are to be in an accident. Be sure to ask about all the discounts you qualify for!

Note: Much of this material was drawn from the “Death and Taxes” chapter of my book, Your Money: The Missing Manual, which was published earlier this year by O’Reilly Media. You can download a sample chapter here. Image by Incase Designs.

Source: getrichslowly.org

Apache is functioning normally

I’m a fan of unusual homes. From tiny homes to recycled homes, I’m fascinated by unconventional ways one can build houses that save on construction costs and future utility bills.

Our own house plans are for plastered walls with straw bale infill, and we’re close to breaking ground. But when I picked up the latest issue of granola crunchy Mother Earth News, for a minute I considered scrapping our plans. To live in a grain bin.

You really have to click that last link and check out the photos to see how architects and builders are taking the big round structures pictured above and turning them into stunning homes. I had never heard of such a thing as a grain bin house, but I was intrigued.

Low Cost, Low Impact

You might be wondering, as any rational person would, what would possibly drive someone to turn a grain silo into a house. Turns out there are quite a few reasons grain bin inhabitants chose the structure. Consider the following features:

  1. Eco-friendly. Many builders buy used bins, and they can be recycled. Mother Earth News suggests finding used bins by placing an ad in farm magazines or on your local farm co-op bulletin board, through a local bin dealer or erector, or surprisingly, even on Craigslist and eBay.
  2. Low maintenance. Not fond of painting your house? That’s no longer a task on the to-do list with a grain bin house. The shiny metal will dull to gray, but you’ll never have to pick up a paintbrush.
  3. Cost effective. Bins cost $30 per square foot or less (not including slab or assembly costs). You can get smaller bins for an office or workshop for a few hundred dollars, or sometimes for free.
  4. Visual appeal. Mother Earth News interviewed Mark Clipsham, an architect from Iowa, who says, “…curved forms are used in either the most expensive and prestigious buildings or the most utilitarian and primitive ones. These forms have evolved out of use because of changes in available materials, labor costs and prevailing building methods. But why not use something utilitarian and affordable — a grain bin — to build what is otherwise in the realm of the expensive and exclusive?”

Bells and Whistles

Earl Stein’s 1,800-square foot grain bin home in Woodland, Utah, uses high-tech systems and solar heat gain to use less energy. The house, called Monte-Silo, was designed by Gigaplex Architects out of two linked corrugated metal grain silos, arranged to enjoy a view of the Provo River. The home features the following:

  • Rubber-covered concrete floors heated by sunlight that pours through the windows
  • Radiant heat in the floors (Stein says even with the indulgence, his heating bills are far below the average for houses of the same size in Utah.)
  • Heat retained with computer-controlled drapes
  • Propane-burning stove
  • Metal grating and guard rail of the second level deck provide shade in the great room during the summer

Another beautiful example of a high-end grain silo home is M. J. Gladstone’s 450-square-foot, octagonal living room and bedroom combo with and attached angular shed that holds the kitchen, dining area, home office, bathroom, and a closet. Both Gladstone’s and Stein’s homes cost about $200 per square foot.

A Simple, Owner-Built Home

On the other end of the spectrum is an owner-built grain bin home constructed with mostly locally sourced materials. A 3,000-bushel grain bin was converted into two one-room apartments with plenty of cost-saving features, such as the following:

  • Used grain bin with walls, a roof, and a concrete floor
  • Straw bale insulation
  • Double-paned glass windows and doors placed to maximize solar heat gain
  • Doors, windows, and straw bales purchased locally
  • Reclaimed wood from a nearby barn
  • 24-watt solar electric system

The owners chose a grain silo home because it could be inhabitable in about three months (before winter). In fact, the speed of assembly makes these structures ideal for emergency situations in areas hit by natural disaster. Final cost wasn’t listed for this home, but it’s fair to say it’s at the low end of costs for a grain bin home.

Grain bins aren’t just being converted into homes, either. People have made offices, workshops, playhouses, storage buildings, and guest apartments out of them. Considering expense, strength, and maintenance, they’re an ideal building material. Unusual? Most definitely. But when you start to think outside the box, they make a lot of sense, too.

What do you think about unconventional homes like these? Would you ever live in one? What about building a workshop or office out of a grain bin?

Source: getrichslowly.org

Apache is functioning normally

There are demons that can suck the life force from you — and you unknowingly invited them into your home. Vampire electronics may not suck your blood, but they’ll drain you of nickels and dimes for every dollar you spend on energy.

The Cost of Vampire Energy

Vampire energy is the electricity that electronics and appliances drain from the power grid when you aren’t using them. Some electronics that are turned off still suck energy in standby mode, especially those with the following features:

  • Internal clock
  • External clock display
  • Panel display LED
  • Remote control sensor
  • Battery charger
  • Power-conversion pack
  • Portable units with a base (such as a cordless phone)

According to the U.S. Department of Energy, vampire electronics are responsible for 5-10% of residential energy use. In other words, if you slay your energy vampires, and you’ll see a noticeable difference in your energy bills. CNN reported that you might have as many as 50 vamps lurking in your midst:

Alan Meier of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory has been studying vampire electronics for years. “Each home now has anywhere from 10 to 50 of these products, so that adds up and represents as much as a month of your electricity bill,” he says. We plugged a DVD player that wasn’t even playing a DVD into a watt meter, and it showed consumption of 11.32 watts with the power on. “I’ve turned it off, and now its drawing six watts,” Meier says…Meier’s home computer is just standing by. But it’s drawing 65 watts.

I’m definitely guilty of letting energy vampires run amok in my own home. In fact, as I was writing this, I decided to take a look around to see what electronics were plugged in and running up the electric bill. I found the following:

  • 2 laptops
  • Printer
  • Back-up drive
  • 2 sets of speakers
  • 5 lamps
  • Clock radio
  • Camera battery charger
  • 2 phone chargers
  • Television
  • DVD player
  • Microwave

I should pull the cord on most of these electronics, like the extra laptop that rarely gets used, the printer, the back-up drive, and the chargers, but they stay plugged in day after day.

Put a Stake Through Vampire Power

So how do you dust these energy vamps? There are two factors to consider: One is energy efficiency, and the other is whether the device is on or off.

  • The first thing to consider is a device’s overall energy efficiency, since in-use energy used can often be more important than standby energy if an appliance sucks a particularly large amount of power. The U.S. EnergyStar program provides energy efficiency ratings for various categories of electronics, so begin your search there when shopping for energy-efficient appliances, light bulbs, water heaters, windows, and more. While it’s not possible for most slayers to replace all of their appliances and electronics, you can start to slowly swap older devices with energy-efficient ones when you need to replace something.
  • Second, take care of the vamps in your home. Unplug chargers and adapters when you aren’t using them. When that’s not practical (because you don’t want to reset your clock 10 times a day or shutdown and unplug your computer every time you use it), consider a power strip like the Wattstopper Plug Load Control or Smart Strip Power Strip, which work two different ways to lower your bills.

The Wattstopper ($90) uses a “personal sensor” to turn off power after a device has been idle for a user-defined time period. The Smart Strip ($35) can sense when devices are on or off and shuts off power supply accordingly. According to the Smart Strip website, independent consultant tests showed that it can “save enough energy to pay for itself in as little as six weeks…up to $20 per month on your electric bill.”

Your wooden stake power strip will pay for itself.

J.D.’s note: Now’s a good time to remind you of the Kill-a-Watt electricity usage monitor. This little gadget detects how much power your appliances use so that you can make smart decisions about electricity. You only need to use the Kill-a-Watt about once every year. So, do what we did: Buy one and loan it to all your friends so that they can find the energy vampires in their homes.

Source: getrichslowly.org

Apache is functioning normally

The holiday season is upon us, the time of year for family, friends, food — and wine. Yes, it’s true, I associate the holidays with alcohol. It never used to be this way (probably because I didn’t drink), but for the past five years, I’ve spent late November stocking our wine rack.

There are several reasons for this:

    • From mid-November to mid-January, the local supermarkets have huge wine sales.
    • Every winter, Consumer Reports lists holiday wine bargains. In the December 2010 issue, for example, they suggest 22 “best buys” between $4 and $15 per bottle. (Most are in the $7 to $10 range.)
  • Our circle of friends seems to have more dinner parties during the winter than at other times of the year. When we gather, we drink wine.

For a long time, I used the shotgun method of buying wine. I went to the store and bought bottles at random, usually based on whether I liked the label. (No joke!) Nowadays, however, I’m more methodical. I’m reluctant to buy a wine I haven’t tried before; I mostly buy wines I know I like. And I try to get them for as little as possible.

Drink What You Like

My top tip for saving money on wine is to buy what you like. When you buy a bottle blindly, there’s a chance you won’t enjoy it. Buying bad wine is like pouring money down the drain. But if you stick with old favorites, wine can be an excellent value.

How can you tell what you like? You have to experiment. Wine recommendations should be treated like movie reviews: They can give you a general idea of what you’re going to get, but your actual reaction will be intensely personal. To know for sure, you have to taste a wine.

When you find something you really like, write it down. For me, this only happens about once a year. When I taste a wine that knocks my socks off, I immediately send myself an e-mail so I won’t forget. After doing this for the past few years, I’ve developed a short list (of four wines) that I’d actually like to have on hand.

There’s no need to keep elaborate notes (unless you want to). I’m an unsophisticated wine drinker. Oaky? Fruity? Full of tannins? Heck if I know. Some people are serious about wine, and that’s fine. For me, though, wine is fun. Eating a good meal while sharing a bottle of wine is a bonding experience. Wine brings people together. And it does that just as well at $8 a bottle as at $80 a bottle.

Finding Wine Bargains

As much as I love it, wine can be expensive. It pains me to spend $25 on a bottle of something to drink. So I don’t — not if I can help it. Instead, I keep my eye out for wine bargains. Here are five ways I save money on wine:

    • Wait for a sale. Yes, wine goes on sale, especially at supermarkets. Between now and the end of the year, Safeway has tons of wine marked down for the holidays, including “30% off wines priced $20 or more”. (This is true in the Portland area, anyhow.)
    • Buy in bulk. Many grocery stores offer discounts if you buy several bottles at once. Safeway, for example, gives shoppers 10% off if they buy at least six bottles. Combining this with the 30% discount I mentioned above, you can buy a $20 wine for $12.60 — or a $40 wine for $25.21. (I’m using Safeway as an example because that’s our local supermarket and I know their policies.)
    • Order by the case. When you find a wine you like, stock up. Ask your local wine store or supermarket if you can order a case of the stuff — and ask if that’ll earn you a discount. My friend Paul, for example, recently found a tasty pinot noir. At $24 per bottle, it wasn’t something he could afford, though. When the local Fred Meyer put the wine on sale for $10 a bottle, he bought a case. By doing so, he got an extra dollar off the sale price, saving him a total of $15 per bottle!
    • Shop at a warehouse club. Most Costco stores have a fine selection of wines at reasonable prices. I’m sure other warehouse stores do, too.
    • Check discount stores. I’ve had several GRS readers tell me that they buy their wine at ding-and-dent stores, such as Grocery Outlet or Big Lots. (Here’s an article that explains how Grocery Outlet can sell good wines for cheap.)

I’m sure there are other ways to buy wine for less, too. Consumer Reports, for example, is a fan of buying wine online. (Their wine shopping tips include advice for buying via the web.) And I’ve always wondered if it might be possible to get a good deal by buying directly from the winemaker. If you have tips for saving on wine, please let me know.

Further reading: If you’d like to learn more about wine, check out the Consumer Reports wine buying guide. It’s a short intro to the types of wine and when to drink them.

Putting Theory Into Practice

So, how do I put these tips into practice? That’s easy to answer since I’ve been doing so for the past couple of weeks.

First, I do 90% (or more) of our alcohol shopping at the end of the year, when the best bargains can be had (at least here in Portland). We stock up during the holidays, and then don’t worry about alcohol for the rest of the year.

When I start my holiday wine shopping, I check to see if I’ve noted any favorite wines over the past twelve months. This year, for example, I had two: the Graffigna Centenario malbec and the Domaine de Ménard sauvignon blanc. I don’t know where I drank these, but I liked them enough to make a note to myself. So, I headed to a local wine shop and ordered a case of each. (Along with cases of two past favorites.) For less than $8 a bottle, I now have wines I know I like — enough to last a year or more.


Once each year, I place a big wine order, which lowers my costs.

Next, I stopped at Safeway to buy some pricier wine. (We usually take this to parties; I don’t mind giving expensive wine as a hostess gift, but I can’t bring myself to drink it at home. Is that weird?) Using the sale I mentioned above, I bought six bottles regularly priced $20 or more. I paid a total of $96 for wines that would normally have cost $150.

Finally, after Thanksgiving, I’ll carry the latest issue of Consumer Reports with me on a trip to Costco. If I find any of their recommended wines, I’ll buy two or three bottles of each.

This brief burst of wine shopping will keep us stocked for at least a year, and will save us money to boot!

A brief word about booze It’s more difficult for me to give advice about beer and booze. I don’t drink beer, and I’m under the impression that each state has different rules and regulations for the sale of distilled spirits.

Here in Oregon, for instance, liquor stores are under the oversight of the Oregon Liquor Control Commission, which tightly regulates how and what they can sell, and at what price. Because prices are controlled by the state, shoppers can visit the OLCC website to download a price list and to see current specials.

My guess is that in most places, it pays to be patient. If you have favorites, wait until they go on sale. When they do, stock up. For instance, I’m a fan of Scotch whisky, and like to have my favorites (Ardbeg, Caol Ila, Lagavulin) on hand. Rather than pay full price for these, I wait until they’re marked down, then buy two or three bottles. Recently, for example, I found Caol Ila discounted from $54 to $50 a bottle. I bought two bottles to tuck away for the future.

Source: getrichslowly.org

Apache is functioning normally

This is a guest-post from Tim Ellis, author of Seattle Bubble, a blog and forum dedicated to discussing real estate market conditions in the Seattle area. Tim is a long-time GRS reader. During my last trip to Europe, he shared a controversial article on renting vs. buying.

Given the fact that loses twenty percent of its value the moment you drive it off the lot. Buying a home (used or new) is similar. Even if home prices begin to appreciate regularly again, agent fees, excise taxes, staging, seller concessions, and other random costs add up quickly when you try to sell your home, sucking away about ten percent of the sale price.

There really is no way to know what neighborhood will work best for you until you’ve spent a good amount of time actually living in the area. Consider all the variables at play:

  • What’s the commute like to your work?
  • How convenient is shopping?
  • Is there enough entertainment nearby?
  • Does the neighborhood feel safe?
  • Do you like the neighborhood vibe?
  • Are there sources of noise at odd hours?

Wouldn’t you prefer to rent for a while and learn the area rather than buy right away only to learn after a few months that you’d rather live across town, but you’re stuck for at least a few years (or worse, like Ben) until the value of your home rises enough to offset the selling costs?

Give Yourself Time to Find Out What Works For You

Don’t be tempted to take shortcuts when it comes to a decision as important as where you will live. You might think that you can do sufficient research online or get advice from people who do live in an area so you can make an informed decision from afar. Think again.

Above is a little map I made based on a recent forum thread on LinkedIn started by a simple question:

I have some friends who are relocating to the Seattle area. They will be working in downtown Seattle, have kids and about a $650K housing budget. Looking for thoughts on best cities to live in the Seattle area for education, school districts, quality of life, etc. Any ideas would be appreciated!

Each pin on the map represents an answer to this question that was offered by one of the commenters. Believe it or not, the Seattle area is somewhere under that mass of purple. Good luck making any sort of informed decision based on that mess!

The only person that can really know if you’ll like living in a given neighborhood is you. Buying a home is a major financial commitment, and rushing into a purchase before you’ve had time to get to know the area is a recipe for disaster. If you find yourself planning a major move, find a nice rental and take your time learning the ups and downs of your new hometown before you buy a new home. You’ll be glad you did.

Source: getrichslowly.org